Mobile vacuum cleaner having a hose adapted to be used as a pushing or pulling means therefor



Nov. 13, 1956 J. c. SHALVOY ET AL 2,769,996

MOBILE VACUUM CLEANER HAVING A HOSE ADAPTED TO BE USED AS A PUSH ING ORPULLING MEANS THEREFOR Filed Dec. 21

InveYTCor's:

John (lShal'x/o Paul O, Pawson Their Attorney,

nited States Patent Oce Patented Nov. 13, 1956 2,769,996 MOBILE VACUUMCLEANER HAVING A HOSE ADAPTED TO BE USED AS A PUSHING R PULLING MEANSTHEREFOR Application December 21, 1953, Serial No. 399,271 Claims. (Cl.-323) The present invention relates to vacuum cleaner of the typecomprising a casing in the form of a drum or cylinder supported atopposite ends on wheels, the drum or cylinder, in its side wall, beingprovided with walls which define a suction inlet for the vacuum cleanerhose. In such cleaners the hose comprises'a flexible section formed of alength of flexible tube having at one end a connector which fits in thesuction inlet to connect the hose to the cleaner, and a rigid section,termed usually a wand, suitably connected to the outer end of theflexible section. The free or outer end of the wand is arranged to havediflerent cleaning tools attached thereto, the wand forming a handle fora cleaning tool for moving it over the surface to be cleaned.

A vacuum cleaner of this type has the being mobile, it being easilymoved across a floor by the hose when being used. However, since thehose section which is connected to the cleaner casing is ilexadvantageof ible, it becomes awkward and inconvenient to move the cleaner fromone room to another for example, and down stairs by the suction hose.ward because of the length of the hose.

The object of the present invention is to provide an improvedconstruction and arrangement whereby the free or tool end of the wand ofa suction hose can be connected to the vacuum cleaner casing whereby itforms a handle for use in moving the cleaner on its wheels from oneplace to another, for example, from one room to another, or up and downstairs, and for supporting the cleaner against a wall for storing, whichis simple in structure, easy to use and capable of being embodied in avacuum cleaner at little additional cost.

According to our invention we provide in connection with a vacuumcleaner of the above-referred to type, a projecting handle which islocated directly adjacent to the connection of the hose to the vacuumcleaner casing; and beneath the handle, between it and the hoseconnection, we provide walls which form a pocket in which may bepositioned the end of the wand to which the cleaning tools are attachedwhereby the wand may be used as a rigid handle for moving the cleaner,the other end of the hose being at the same time attached to the cleanerso that the hose as a whole is carried along. In other words, both endsof the hose are attached to the cleaner, thus forming the hose into aloop, and the wand is used as a handle. The underside of the handle isshaped to form the top wall of the pocket and it is provided with atransversely extending groove in which the latch nose on the wand endwhich serves to fasten cleaning tools to the wand end engages tofias-ten the wand end in the pocket. Preferably, the arrangement is suchthat the latch nose may be released from the groove by a turning of thewand.

For a consideration of what we believe to be novel and our invention,attention is directed to the following pecification and to the claimsappended thereto.

In the drawing, Figs. 1, 2 and 3 are views illustrating the use of theinvention.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a' vacuum cleaner embodying theinvention. 1

Fig. 5 is a side view partly broken away.

or up Also, it is awk- Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view taken .on line6-6, Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawing, 1 indicates the casing of a vacuum cleanerwhich is in the form of a drum or cylinder. At its two ends the casingis supported on wheels 2 and 3 suitably attached to it, the cleanerbeing adapted to be moved around on the wheels. On the side of casing 1are walls which define the suction inlet 4 of the cleaner, it embodyingmeans whereby the one end of a suction hose may be fastened therein. Inthe casing are the usual motor driven suction fan and dust bag, and at asuitable point is the air discharge opening. Such parts form no part ofthe present invention and for this reason they have not beenillustrated.

The suction hose comprises a flexible tube section 5 having at one end aconnector 6 for connecting the suction hose to the suction inlet.Connector 6 may be made of metal or other suitable rigid material. It isof a diameter to fit into the suction inlet and may be provided withsuitable mean (not shown) for detachably locking it in the inlet. Thelocking means may be of any suitable structure and since its specificstructure forms no part of our invention and such locking means areknown, it has not been illustrated.

Attached to the other end of flexible hose section 5 by suitable meansis a rigid tube section 8, termed usually a wand, formed from metaltubing for example. Prefera'bly the connection between the flexible hosesection, and wand is formed by curved, rigid, coupling tube 9, which ispermanently swiveled to the free end of the hose section and adapted tobe releasably coupled to wand 8 ma conventional manner. If desirel,cleaning tools may be attached directly to the tube 9 for certaincleaning operations. When connected to the flexible hose, wand 8 isnormally used as a handle for several cleaning tools, its free end beingprovided with latch means for detachably connecting tools to it, and itmay be provided with a curved end as best shown in Fig. 2 so that when acleaning tool is attached to its said end, its other end is at aconvenient height and the wand is at a convenient angle for moving thecleaning tool over the surfiace to be cleaned. In the present instancethe latch means is shown as comprising a latch nose 10 attached to aspring strip 11 intermediate between the ends of the strip. Strip 11 islocated inside wand '8 adjacent to the end of the wand and at one end isattached to the wand by suitable means, such as rivets, as is indicated'at =12. The other end of strip 11 is provided with a latch releasingbutton 13 which projects out through an opening in the wand and isbiased to such position by the inherent resiliency of spring strip 11.Latch nose 10 also projects out through an opening in the wand and isbiased to such position by the spring strip. With such a latch structureeach cleaning tool is provided with a sleeve into which the Wand end maybe inserted, the sleeve having walls which form an annular groove inwhich latch nose 10 engages when the .Wand end is inserted into thesleeve to lock the cleaning tool on the wand end. As shown in Fig. 6,the one side of nose 10 is rounded as is indicated at 14 whereby whenthe wand end is inserted into the tool sleeve it will be forced inwardby being pressed against the end of the sleeve; and when in line with.the annular groove in the sleeve will spring out into it thus fasteningthe cleaning tool to the wand. The locking means may be released topermit removal of a cleaning tool by pressing inward on button '16.

The vacuum cleaner structure so far described is a known one and is tobe taken as typical of such structures. Our invention has to do withproviding means whereby the end .of the wand may be attached to thevacuum cleaner casing whereby the wand may be used aszahandle formovingthe cleaner over a floor, from roomto room, or up and down stairs,andalso providing means whereby the cleaner may be stored against awall. It should be understood that in accomplishing this, it iscontemplatedthat the wand and flexiblesection-v may be simultaneouslyconnected to the cleaner, when, using thewandasa handle, or that the,wand may be disconnected: from the. flexible section, connected to thecleaner, andused alone to push the cleaner around.

Attached to the Wall of easing lby suitable means is atransyerselyextending escutcheon plate, 16 formed in tegralwith which is a boss 17havingan opening which forms the suction inlet,4-, such opening being inalign; ment with an openingin the; casing 1. Also integral withescutcheonplate 16,.ancl extending longitudinallythere: of, adjacenttoinlet 4 isanoutwardly projecting ledge 18 which forms a handle for thecleaner for use in lifting and carrying it, the ledgebeingprovided-withanopening;19 through which ahand maybe passed. Beneathledge; or handle 13 between its underside and boss; 17 are walls whichforrna pocket 29in which the tool end of wands may be inserted, Aportionof the top wall of pocket 29 is definedby. acurvedwall 21- ontheunderside, of handle 13 and in such curved; wall is alocking groove22 adapted toreceive latch nose 10. As shown in Fig. .5, lockinggroove-22 extends throughout theex-tent ofcurved pocket Wall 2l so thathis open at its ends; and by this arrangement locking nose may bemovedout of the groove by turning wandS in either direction.

To attach the wand to the cleaner casingit is necessary merely. to pushthe end oi thewand into the pocket as shown in Fig. 6. As the wand endis pushed into the pocket, latch nose 10 will be forced inward by reasonof rounded surface 14' and will ride along the inner surface of thepocket until it comes in line with groove 22 whereupon it will snap outinto the groove thus locking the-wand end in the pocket. Thewand end maybe;re movedfrom the pocket by merely twisting or turning the wand, ineither direction to move the latch nose out of groove 22 and thenpulling the wand end out of the pocket. This is an advantageous featureof the inven; tion since no stooping to release the latch nose-bypushing in on button 13 is required.

An important feature of our invention resides in providing the ledgewhichvforms the handle adjacent to the suction inlet and then locatingthe pocket for attachment of the tool end. of the wand to the casingbeneath the ledge between its underside and the suction inlet, thepocket being formed partly by a surface on. the underside of the handlewhich surface is provided with the locking groove for the wand latch.This forms a simple compact structure which can be provided at low costand one-to which thetool end. of the wand can be quickly and easilyattached, and from which it can be detached with a minimum of effort.

When the wand is locked in the pocket, flexible hose section 5 and wand8 form a loop as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the flexible section hangingdraped under the wand, Thus the flexible section is fairly out of theway. and does not interfere with moving the cleaner casing about on itswheels as illustrated by Figs. 2 and 3. This is especially' importantwhen moving the cleaner up or down stairs S as shown particularly inFig. 3 since by having the wand connection adjacent to the hoseconnection, the flexible section does not contact with the steps. Alsothe loop may be usedto great advantage in storing the cleaner, the loopbeing positioned over a hook H located at a suitable height on a wall Was shown in Fig. 1. In Figs. 1 and 2, F indicates a floor.

The invention utilizes the latch means already pro vided on the wand endfor connecting cleaning tools to it as the latch means for connectingthe wand end to the cleaner casing. Accordingly, to embody the inventionin a vacuum. cleaner it is necessary merely to provide the ledge18.which forms the handle and the additional walls 4:: between itsunderside and the suction inlet neededto form thepocket, a thing whichinvolves little additional cost especially since a handle is requiredanyway.

The broad idea of a wheeled vacuum cleaner including a pocket for thereception of the tool contacting end of a wand to thereby provide arigid handle to move the cleaner on its wheels from oneplace. to.another; is not our invention,- but -is described andelaimed in theapplication of James P. Hunter, Serial No. 399,270, filed concurrentlyvwith this application and assigned to the .assignee of; the presentapplication.

What we claim as new-and desire to secure-by Letters Patent f. heU itedstes l. A vacuum cleaner comprising a casing having a suction inlet,wheels on the casing for supporting it and on which it; maybe-moved,-asuctionho'se. comprising a flexible sectioniand a.rigid wandsection,theend of the w nd section being; proyideiwithla-tch meansforconnectionof cleaning; toolsthereto, means connecting, the e nd;ottheflexible section; to the suction inlet, ahandle forming le ge adjacent;to.the said suction, inlet, and wal v n lu ina ai WfillaPOfllQn; whichis-a P of'said handle formingledge which define a, pocket intowhich theend 0ft the wand section may. be. positioned, said pa ket ermi ge llsnmnr s na for n ment by the tool latching means. at the endof-the wandectinn qn as enin-e e w ndse onin th p c e he nmb na ou defin dby. la mv1 wh rein h tool latching pmp ise a ocking. nose and the pp li te atchigimeaus omprise an pen e s e in h hand e a min ed e ere y he ocl a ingmea s may h eleas y urn n he ande t e po k A aommi l an rr qmn is n as ge ls. on he c i a upnmtina nd on. hic may be ove walls; we asin w qh: dene uc n. inlet to; which; the end oh the; flexible section of a. suctionhose may be sstestahandle um n led n the casing-adjacentto said suctioninlet, a nd walls including a a q t an hich -ap rt tsa d. andle o m nedge h s rm anos et osat s b ween he c nnin t d h a n iQ hes 4 Qt; wande t on o a nih aybe n sst d. a d; nq st a in walls mp ine tchmsans wiWhisk. le nin 2 a h means n heand astie nstmav en e- 4. The combinationdefined by claim 3 wherein the latch means in; the. pocket forming wallscomprises an open ended groove. in, the handle torrning ledge forcooperation with awand section latch in the form ofa springpressedlatch. nose.

5. A vacuum cleanen comprising a casing having a suction inlet, whcelson opposite ends of; the casing for supporting it andv onwhichjit may.be moved, a suction hose comprising, a flexible section. and a rigidwand section, the end or the'wand. section being provided with latchmeans for connection. of cleaning tools thereto, means connecting theend, of, the flexible section to the suction inlet, a.handleformingledge adjacent to the said suction inlet, and, wallsincluding a wall portion which is a part oi saidhandle forming ledge.which define a pocket into which the end of the wand section may bepositioned, said pocket forming walls comprising latch means. forengagement by. the tool latching means at, the endof the wandsection'for fastening the wand section in the pocket.

References Cited'in the. file of thispatent UNITED S'IFATES PATENTS FranMar, 27, 94.

